Chip vendors have been scrambling for foundry capacity supply from Taiwan. Both international and domestic IC vendors, such as Infineon and MediaTek have been willing to strike long-term foundry contracts. In China, device brand vendors are keen on rolling out Gan-based fast chargers, stimulating demand for GaN-on-Si chips. But smartphone sales in China remained feeble in May, dropping 31% on year.
Sales of smartphones in the China market remained lackluster in May, with related shipments declining 31% from a year earlier to 22.6 million units in the month, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Technology (CAICT).
Bloomberg has warned that the world is "dangerously dependent" on supply of semiconductors from Taiwan - an assertion echoed by attempts that many governments have made to avoid placing all eggs in one basket. The US has already made moves towards boosting semiconductor manufacturing on American soil - a significant example being TSMC's project to build an advanced-node fab in Arizona. But this project highlights the fact the US is still "depending" on Taiwan - in one way or another - for semiconductor supply, at least in the foreseeable future.
Sales of 5G smartphones in the Taiwan market are likely to account for over 80% of total handset shipments in the second half of 2021 thanks to the new offerings of 5G models from Samsung Electronics, Xiaomi, Realme and Vivo, according to sources at the local channels.
Taiwan-based IC design houses are optimistic about their shipments for smartphone applications in the third quarter of 2021, thanks to the upcoming rollouts of new 5G-enabled models, particularly by Chinese brands.
The top-100 tech firms in Asia are mostly based in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan, with the car and tech products/equipment sectors making up the two largest groups, according to Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100), the freshly released research results by Digitimes. The ASC 100 study, based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap, wil be renewed annually. In the notebook industry, makers are using more aluminum-alloy components to replace copper ones, as copper prices stay at high levels.
Countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia stand a chance of becoming rising stars in the midst of supply chain shifts and the move toward shorter supply chains and localization. Four Indian firms and one Indonesian firm entered Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100). By region, Tata Motors at No. 22 in ASC100 is the champion in Southeast Asia and South Asia, followed by Indonesia's Astra International (No. 68) and India's Mahindra & Mahindra (No. 69), Maruti Suzuki (No. 74) and Motherson Sumi (No. 89). ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.
Companies in the "tech products and equipment" and "automotive manufacturing" sectors account for half of the Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100) list, but semiconductor firms well lead the list in both average profit and average market value. ASC 100 is a newly released reseach on Asia's top 100 tech firms. ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.
Benefiting from the US-China tech war and sharp chip shortages following the pandemic outbreak, and with automotive clients competing for foundry capacity support, the entire semiconductor industry is poised to enjoy robust order momentum through 2022, allowing semiconductor stocks to gain traction in the market. TSMC and Samsung Electronics, now the world's only two companies able to commercialize sub-7 nm foundry nodes, have been in a two-horse race for grabbing the crown in the Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100) research, ranking first and second, respectively, by market capitalization in 2020. ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.
Digitimes, an Asia-based premium source of tech supply information, has just released its 2021 Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100) research results. In terms of 2020 revenue, Japan's Toyota Motor, South Korea's Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn) are the top three in ASC100, a freshly launched research on Asia's top-100 tech firms. The ASC 100 research is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.
Digitimes, an Asia-based premium source of tech supply chain information, undertook a six-month study on the financial reports of 4,725 publicly listed corporations across 11 countries in Asia and compiled its first annual report on the top 100 Asian suppliers - Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100) in 2021. Released on June 15, the report contains the rankings among Asia's top 100 suppliers along with a look into supply chain trends and an analysis on the competitiveness of Asian countries. Digitimes plans to release updated statistics on an annual basis going forward and keep track of the changes in the rankings among Asia's high-tech suppliers in the long run.
The global smartphone applications processor (AP) market surged 21% on year to US$6.8 billion in the first quarter of 2021, according to Strategy Analytics.
Notebook ODMs still see robust orders from clients, but productions have been seriously hampered by component shortages, with notebook shipment results vary from maker to maker in May. In the memory market, NOR flash prices are expected to surge in third-quarter 2021, stimulated by smartphone spec upgrades. According to Digitimes Research, global smartphone shipments are set to grow in 2021.
Worldwide smartphone shipments are likely to reach 650 million units in the first half of 2021, and shipments in the first and second quarters each will register a double-digit growth from a year earlier, according to Digitimes Research forecasts.
The Apple supply chain's shift of operation to India, in line with the incentives provided by the Indian government, has reportedly created around 20,000 job opportunities so far in the South Asian country.
Taiwan-based voice coil motor (VCM) suppliers expect order pull-ins from Apple to gradually turn strong starting from June as the US brand is expected to release its next-generation iPhones later this year, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Taiwan's tech firms have intensified coronavirus-prevention measures after COVID-19 hit some local semiconductors plants, with KYEC bearing the brunt of the impacts, raising concerns about the stability of IC supply that has already been troubled by capacity shortage for months. In the IT market, despite speculation that demand for notebooks may weaken in second-half 2021 as a result of easing of the pandemic, ODMs are still confident about notebook orders throughout the year. In India, Lava International reportedly is preparing for IPO, as it seeks to reclaim lost ground in the local handset market.
Foxconn Technology Group (Hon Hai Precision Industry) has reported May consolidated revenues of NT$455.03 billion (US$16.27 billion), down 9.1% on month, but up 17.6% on year, with the amount for the first five months of 2021 reaching NT$2.29 trillion, up 35.42% on year.
Lava International, an India-based smartphone manufacturer, is preparing for initial public offering (IPO), in line with a trend that sees ndian companies showing keeness to seize the opportunities available to expand their market share and capitalization, according to local media reports.
Shipments of TWS (true wireless stereo) devices in the Indian market remained strong in first-quarter 2021 with local brands having a major share, according to Counterpoint Research.
TSMC's just-unveiled InFO_B packaging technology designed for smartphones enables DRAM stacking flexibility at contract manufacturers, and has received positive feedback from handset application processor vendors, according to industry sources.
With AMD and Nvidia debuting their new gaming GPUs, the DIY PC market particularly the high-end segment is poised to grow in the second half of the year when the latest flagship graphics cards hit market shelves. In the handset market, Apple is keen on pushing 5G mmWave technology. Over 50% of the shipments for the next-generation iPhones to be launched later this year will come with mmWave support. And TSMC has unveiled its tech development in an online symposium.
More than 50% of Apple's next-generation iPhone devices slated for launch in the latter half of 2021 reportedly will support 5G mmWave technology, according to industry sources.
AMD at the ongoing Computex 2021 talked about its 3D chipset processor developed jointly with TSMC, which provides its 3D silicon stacking and advanced packaging technologies.
